


What You Are

by badwithusernames



Category: Hataraku Maou-Sama! | The Devil Is a Part-Timer!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 04:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9054793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwithusernames/pseuds/badwithusernames
Summary: After Alas Ramus fuses herself with the Holy Sword, Emi decides to test how far apart the two can be. While she, Suzuno and Chiho leave Alas Ramus behind at Devil's Castle, Emi contemplates the question left to her by Gabriel: what is she? Takes place between Volume 3 and 4.





	

The fight with Gabriel had rattled her. Not so much the fact that she had crossed swords with yet another angel—beings far beyond the power of a lowly human—but the words Gabriel spoke as he left.

“Think a bit about what you really are,” he said. Or something to that effect.

Then he just… ran away. Leaving both the sword and the girl behind.

“Ms. Yusa!”

Emi Yusa opened her eyes, snapping back from her memory of the day before.

“Sorry. What’s up, Chi?”

Chiho Sasaki and Suzuno Kamazuki were staring at her with concern in their eyes—both quite distinct from one another.

“Were you thinking about Alas Ramus?” Chiho asked. “I’m positive she’s fine! Mr. Maou and Ashiya are taking great care of her while we’re gone.”

Alas Ramus. The small child that claimed Emi Yusa—otherwise known as the Hero Emilia Justina—as her mother, and Sadao Maou—resident ex-Demon King Satan—as her father. She was not an ordinary child. In truth, she was a fragment of Yesod, one of the fruits of the World Tree.

Until yesterday, Emi had unknowingly possessed a second fragment of Yesod. It had been given to her—embedded inside her body—by the Church of Ente Isla. It took the form of a sword, Better Half, which she had used over the years to slay demon after demon back in her home world. Twice now, angels from Heaven had come to take it from her. “Heaven’s Collective Will,” said the first. Emi still felt the sting of Sariel’s magic as he did everything in his power to try and separate the Hero from her holy weapon.

But now, through a series of events no one could have predicted: Alas Ramus, a living, breathing fragment of Yesod, and Better Half, the sword that lived within the Hero Emilia, had become one and the same. It was impossible to separate the child from the one she called ‘mother’.

Even so, knowing that did not give Emi any peace. Neither did having to leave Alas Ramus—and her sword—with her mortal enemy, Sadao Maou, and his two remaining demon generals back at the Villa Rosa Sasazuka, otherwise known as the “Devil’s Castle”.

“I’m fine,” said Emi, rolling her shoulders to try and shake off her lingering unease.

“Hopefully soon we will know more about the implications of this ‘evolution’,” said Suzuno in her usual, overly formal tone. “If I had to guess, I would say you and Alas Ramus can only be so far apart before _something_ happens. It would be wise to get off at the next stop. Just in case.”

“What are you thinking might happen to her!?” Chiho exclaimed. Emi could only guess what kind of supernatural horrors the young high schooler was imagining right now. “Do you think we’ll hit, like, some magic barrier? Maybe Ms. Yusa won’t be able to move and—and the train will keep going without her!”

“I am not suggesting anything so drastic,” said Suzuno. “Although I would not rule something like that out…. Honestly, we have no idea what will happen.”

Emi did not interject as her two friends continued to swap suggestions about what might happen when the Hero strayed too far from her charge. Chiho was just an ordinary high school student, born here on Earth. Suzuno—whose real name was Crestia Bell—came from Ente Isla, just like Emi did. She was a cleric for the Church. The same church which had taken Emilia Justina from her home, raised her to fight, turned her into Emilia the Hero… and then betrayed her.

Suzuno had proven herself different—better—than her corrupt companions. She was someone Emi could trust. But listening to her and Chiho bicker as the train clicked along the tracks to the next station, Emi once again thought about Gabriel’s parting words:

“Maybe it’s time you think… about what you really are….”

It was the wording Gabriel used that frustrated her most. _What_. Not _who_ , but _what_ …. Emi needed to think about _what_ she was.

Like Emi, Suzuno came from another world. But she was human, like Chiho. She could wield celestial force, perform feats of superhuman strength, and defy gravity with a spell, but despite that… she was _just_ a human. Until she was twelve years old, Emilia Justina had believed she was nothing but an ordinary human too. She had grown up on her father’s farm, among the humans of her village. She played with human children. She had lived a human life. She was a human child. She _was human…_

At least, a part of her was.

But there was another part to her. That part was nothing like Chiho or Suzuno, still chittering away about Emi’s predicament like she was not even there. Emi was human, but she was also an angel.

She had met two angels now—three, if one counted the fallen, ex-Demon General Lucifer—and each time ended with her at odds with them. This latest attempt on her life only made things more confusing…. Half of her belonged to humanity; to the Church that betrayed her. The other half belonged to Heaven; to the “Collective Will” that now moved against her.

But Emi could not be half a person, or half an angel. Things did not work that way. So, she was left wondering: where exactly did she fit? For probably not the first time since learning her heritage, she found herself struggling with the question: _What am I?_

 “Emilia,” Suzuno’s monotone cut through her thoughts like a knife. “The train has stopped. We should go.” Chiho had stopped just by the door, turning back to wait for her two otherworldly friends.

“Oh. Right.”

“Emilia… what is really on your mind?”

“It’s nothing, Bell. I’m just… not used to leaving my sword behind. It makes me anxious not having it.”

Suzuno placed a gentle hand on the pin that held her hair. She could easily transform the small decoration into enormous hammer she wielded as an Inquisitor. Emi never saw her without it. “I understand that,” she said. “But that is why we are conducting this experiment. The sword is a part of you. You are never truly separate from it.”

“I know….” She did not need anyone else reminding her of that—of how _different_ she was. Not today.

She wondered what Suzuno thought when she looked at her. Or Chiho. Did they consider her to be one of them? And Maou… since learning his arch-enemy was half-angel, did he still see her as an annoying human hero, or as something else…?

“Come on, you two!” Chiho exclaimed. “We can’t just sit here until—”

It was too late. Just as Emi managed to stir herself from the bench, the train’s intercom broadcasted a warning and the doors slid shut. The three girls remained frozen as the train-car began to accelerate, leaving the station just as quickly as it arrived.

“Ahhhh! Ms. Yusa’s gonna be squashed by the train!”

“Don’t worry, Emilia, if it comes down to it, I can smash through the train and rescue you!” said Suzuno, reaching up to remove the pin from her hair.

“Wait, no, Suzuno, put that down—!”

“Ms. Suzuno, you can’t just—!”

Without warning, the thankfully empty train-car the three shared was illuminated by a bright, yellow light. Suzuno and Chiho both had to shield their eyes as it settled upon Emi. The red-headed hero, for her part, felt the celestial force within her swell, and a warmth envelop her body.

 _Mommy!_ _I’m here!_

“A-Alas…!” she stammered. The small voice was something only she could hear, echoing inside her head. “Alas Ramus, is that you?”

 _Mommy! You went too far away, I had to come!_  

“The girl is here?” Suzuno asked, looking around now that the light had faded, and seeing nothing. “Where?”

“She must have returned to Ms. Yusa’s body!” said Chiho. “Wow! So, you don’t have to worry about her getting lost or anything?”

Emi placed both hands over her chest, feeling at the spot where Better Half’s holy silver rested under her skin. “That’s one way to put it,” she said. “I’m glad you’re safe, Alas Ramus.”

_Mommy! We should go back to Daddy!_

“Back to Daddy?” she repeated, pretending not to see the grimace flash across Chiho’s face, or the exasperation on Suzuno’s.

“I can just imagine the panic right now,” said Chiho. “To have Alas Ramus just up and disappear on them like that.”

“Right…. Well, when we get to the next stop, I guess we can turn around. Otherwise I’m going to have a toddler screaming in my head for the next few hours….”

“I guess you have to visit Devil’s Castle a lot more now, don’t you?”

“I’m not happy about it, Chi. Believe me.”

“Perhaps we should all sit down and relax again while we wait for the next stop,” Suzuno sighed, setting to work putting her hair back into its usual configuration.

“Can you bring Alas Ramus out so she can run around for a bit? Of course, if you keep her in sword form, we won’t have to buy another ticket for the train ride back.”

“You sound like Ashiya and Maou,” teased Emi, smiling as Chiho’s cheeks turned bright red. “Do you want to come out and play with Chi, Alas Ramus?”

_Yeah! I wanna play with Chi-sis and Suzu-sis!_

“Okay. Just for a bit.” Emi reached out her right hand, preparing to summon Alas Ramus back into a material form. But while she had the child all to herself, she paused….

 _Alas Ramus…_ she thought. _Can I ask you a question?_

_Hmm!_

Alas Ramus was barely a toddler, but she was also a fragment of Yesod. She knew so much more than her size or perceived age made it seem.

_What am I? Do you know…?_

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Alas Ramus’s little laugh rang through Emi’s mind. _I know!_ she squealed. _I know! Mommy is Mommy! She’s my mommy and I luv her! An’ we’ll always be togefer._

Emi honestly should have expected that kind of answer. It did not solve her problem—it did not bring her any closer to understanding what Gabriel meant—but it did bring a smile to her lips.

“Can’t argue with that,” she sighed. The same yellow light appeared in her palm, glowing brighter and larger until it was the size and shape of a two-year-old.

“Mommy!” Alas Ramus, materializing from thin air, leapt into Emi’s arms. “I’m here!”

“You are!”

Alas Ramus pulled back and bopped Emi on the nose with her small hands. “Ah! What was that for?”

“Mommy is Mommy!” the child repeated. “An’ I’m gonna be wif mommy fowever—”

“I know, I know!”

“—and Daddy too!”

Emi let out a long, agonized groan and leaned back in her seat. “Yeah…” she said with a wince. “Great.”

It was not the answer she wanted. Both Heaven and the Church still had it out for Emilia the Hero. She was still in danger of being attacked at any time. But at least she knew one thing: this child, wherever it came from, loved her. Whether she was human, angel, or something in between.

“Yeah,” she softly repeated. “That’s great.”


End file.
